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[grc]

Too bad they didn't take over HD!

We can always hope.  Hell, I'd be happy if the Indians in India took them over, at least it wouldn't be the same ol' same ol'.


Jerry

[skreminegul07]

Interesting.

Wonder if the factory will stay in the same location?
Wonder if there will be a touring bike coming?

SBB

Nope

KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. — Officials of a North Carolina motorcycle manufacturer say they will cease operations in the state after the company was recently sold.

The Gaston Gazette reports that Indian Motorcycle officials announced Thursday that the company will cease manufacturing in Cleveland County after its sale to Polaris Industries Inc., which will relocate the operation to Iowa.

The Kings Mountain plant has 25 employees and has been open less than three years. Nearly 800 jobs were expected when Indian and sister company Chris-Craft announced plans in 2006 to set up manufacturing operations in the county.

Cleveland County paid more than $1 million toward the plant purchase and the city promised reimbursement of property taxes for a decade.

Chris-Craft closed in 2009 after one year of operation.

[canucktm]

Hope once all the dust settles Polaris will address the vibration issues of the Power Plus 105. Still think the vintage is a beautiful looking bike .

[Beemer]

I test rode one a year ago and was blown away by the shear beauty of the bike.  It has IMHO the most beautiful motors ever made.  It drips character in every area...especially the long fenders (with caliper covers) and the leather tooling on seat and saddlebags. 

However, its handling left a lot for improvement (similar but not as good as a HD Softail) and power was severely lacking for 105" motor.  I said as much when we got back and the salesman said he should have given me the one with the "stage one" upgrade...WTFO?

Not worth the asking price of a CVO Tourer but if they can get the price down to around 18K like a HD Softail, I'll have one in my garage!

[2harleys]

X2   

[Spiderman]

Getting the pricing down is going to be a real big requirement, I like the looks and seating position of the indians but I do not think that they are worth the asking price. While they are at it they could move the oil filter away from the exhaust.

I think the key to success is in the type of comment being made above. Essentially what this amounts to is reverse engineering. The Japanese are the acknowledged masters of the universe at it. Take a known design and remove the flaws, market it properly with an acceptable price point and you've got a success story. Nobody gave Victory a real chance but they've beaten the odds. I am hoping they put an Indian on the market that shakes the MoCo to it's roots.

B B

[grandpadoc]

I think the key to success is in the type of comment being made above. Essentially what this amounts to is reverse engineering. The Japanese are the acknowledged masters of the universe at it. Take a known design and remove the flaws, market it properly with an acceptable price point and you've got a success story. Nobody gave Victory a real chance but they've beaten the odds. I am hoping they put an Indian on the market that shakes the MoCo to it's roots.

B B

...remember this one from Japan ?

[SBB]

...remember this one from Japan ?

Just another wanna be from Japan.
Bike might bring a grand in good condition.

 

SBB

[sadunbar]

I think the key to success is in the type of comment being made above. Essentially what this amounts to is reverse engineering. The Japanese are the acknowledged masters of the universe at it. Take a known design and remove the flaws, market it properly with an acceptable price point and you've got a success story. Nobody gave Victory a real chance but they've beaten the odds. I am hoping they put an Indian on the market that shakes the MoCo to it's roots.

B B

Unlike the Chinese, who copy a known design and add a few flaws, pay there workers a nickel a day and then sell it back to us at Wally World......   

[Spiderman]

...remember this one from Japan ?

Actually I saw a lot of these when they were in production. I think the issue was that the Japanese are bound to change model designs yearly or semi-yearly and there wasn't much they could do with this I don't believe Kawasaki produced this model for more than one or two years. Also, the market for it was limited in that you had folks (at least out here) that wanted the Indian look without the issues but there were not enough of them to sustain the model. A few that I happened to see regularly took this a bit further installing bits and pieces of old Indians where they could. One old fellow would wear the johdpurs from back in the day with a kidney belt and old Cycle Champ leather.

B B

[StevesCVO]

I hope Polaris does great with Indian. Every Polaris product I have ever owned was great with no issues ever. I'm sure they will do the same with Indian.

[Mikey]

Just another wanna be from Japan.
Bike might bring a grand in good condition.

 

SBB

I am not so sure about that low value. I have a shop full of 70's Jap bikes that are worth 4 times their new value.

[Twolanerider]

I am not so sure about that low value. I have a shop full of 70's Jap bikes that are worth 4 times their new value.

Asking this because I really don't have a clue what the answer is.  Anything I was riding in the 70s wasn't new, hadn't been new for a long time and was more often than not two or three bikes rolled in to one.

So...  Is saying a 70s era Japanese bike is now worth 400% its new value saying they've appreciated to actually be worth something or that they just didn't cost much to begin with?

[StevesCVO]

Just check EBay for what people are paying for KZ900s and CB750s. It's crazy what they're paying for original KZ exhausts to restore these bikes. I must have thrown away $10k worth of KZ pipes over the years changing them out with Kerker megs or V&H Sideinders lol.

[grandpadoc]

Drifters (Indian Clone) seem to be going for 5-8K which is about half thier original selling price. From some of the original road tests on the web, it looked like a very together bike with a tried and true frame and power train. Doc


                                                    http://www.motorbyte.com/mmm/pages/reviews/review9_00.htm